Your (not-so-obvious) 4-step guide to making healthy cooking fun and simple.
I am a huge believer that no matter what we do in life, how busy we are, where we live or what resources we have there is always room and reason to create a home cooked meal to share with those we cherish. Whether this be a once in your lifetime experience or a regular occurrence bringing your loved ones together through a meal that you have prepared gives you a feeling of reward and fulfillment that you won’t find elsewhere.
I am passionate about making healthy cooking simple, easy and above all else fun because we all eat, food is a necessary part of life and what is crazy is that cooking and food preparation are increasingly being portrayed as time wasters in our oh so busy and important lives.
This post is all about bringing the magic back to cooking with 4 simple tips that will transform your cooking and dining experience and at the same time your health.
- Relinquish the recipe
Ok maybe don’t do away with the recipe all together because there certainly are some fabulous recipes out there! I mean do away with the pressure for your meal to be an exact replica of that glossy magazine picture.
Don’t let fear of your creation being imperfect stop you from getting in there and giving it a go. Get those recipes you want to make and be as radical as you like ranging from adding an extra clove of garlic here, a splash of soy sauce there or something completely different based on your own combination of flavours you love! Show yourself that cooking is fun and not a ridged scales and measurements ordeal.
I understand the fear of cooking is real I have worked with many clients who were stuck with where to even begin and there is one thing people with these initial concerns all have in common and that is that after they have given it a go each and every one of them says something along the lines of “I never knew healthy cooking was so easy!”
Your kitchen and your dinning room are not the set of one of those reality TV shows where strangers sit around and harshly critique the ‘elements’ of your dish. You’re not standing there while others dissect and scrutinise the amazing food you have prepared, you are sitting there amongst your loved ones diving into delicious spoonfuls yourself as you talk and laugh about memories, stories and future plans. Remember your enjoyment is equally as important as any of the people you are cooking for so give up the recipe (aka the precision and the perfection) and focus on the process and the joy. A curious attitude in the kitchen and in life in general is an attitude for success.
There is so much potential for possibility with what you could be eating, don’t let your creativity be restricted by the words on a page, some of the best meals I have ever eaten didn’t have a name (and many certainly didn’t look magazine worthy!).
2. Invest in the Right Equipment
In the kitchen there are two sets of tools those for cooking and preparation and those for presentation and serving.
Let us look at each starting with the cooking equipment. Owning a few simple items of kitchen equipment can make the difference between having an easy, smooth and enjoyable experience or a frustrating, slow and painful time in the kitchen.
In my opinion the top 10 must have pieces of kitchen equipment are:
- A silicone plate scraper
- A food processor
- Wooden spoons
- Non-stick baking paper
- Bar mix
- Mortar and pestle
- Spatula
- Tongs
- Vegetable steamer
- Silicone muffin trays
The second part to kitchen equipment is the presentation part. The presentation of food is what takes dinning to that next level. When food is visually appealing it sparks the interest of your tastebuds before it is anywhere near your mouth and having nice cutlery and crockery to serve and eat from is a special component of this.
If you don’t already own nice cutlery and crockery or are having trouble choosing, I recommend simple crockery like white bowls and plates because these make any meal look clean and elegant and allow for the natural colours of the food to be the focus. Also cutlery which is heavy and solid rather than light feels more decadent to eat off. A great way to draw inspiration for your cutlery and crockery is to pay attention to what they use next time you visit your favourite restaurant.
After you have acquired these simple kitchen basics you can then move onto whatever else your heart desires. The sky really is the limit with creative kitchen gadgets because there are myriad options available. My best advice when choosing is to ensure you always buy good quality.
3. Take Pride in Your Creation
It feels great to confidently and wholeheartedly give recognition to and celebrate yourself. The effort and love that you have put into cooking whether you do it daily or very rarely is one of those things that can often go underappreciated and I encourage you to actively acknowledge the effort you have put in. Cooking seems to be a dying art and an undervalued part of our lives where really it should be incredibly valued so start accepting not just the compliments of others but also your own praise.
Cooking is not the place to be modest, it is a fun place to be bold and bright and give yourself the appreciation you deserve for your accomplishment! When you are celebrating what you have made others can’t help but be drawn in and when you compliment and enjoy your meal your enthusiasm will be contagious.
When we give ourselves credit for the effort, we have put into something and the outcome we have achieved we are far more likely to do it again and in the mind of a dietitian this is a huge win because there is no substitute for the health benefits of home cooked meals!
There is even a conspiracy going around that food industry is deliberately making us useless in the kitchen by selling us messages that make us believe we are too busy to cook and cooking is not glamorous or cool combined with cooking programs where the focus is on gossip and competition rather than actually teaching cooking skills. When we’ve lost our power in the kitchen it is these same companies which are conveniently there to rescue us through buying their products such as microwave/packet meals therefore they capitalise off our lack of knowledge and value of cooking. Although I don’t think it is that highly coordinated it is definitely the way we are heading therefore use this post to take back your power in the kitchen by reclaiming your ability to feed yourself and your loved ones well (and have fun doing it!).
4. Enjoy the Reward
Enjoying the reward is about more than enjoying the flavour of the food or no longer being hungry because the same thing could be achieved through buying take-away on your way home from work. This is about enjoying the full experience of sharing this nurturing meal you have lovingly created with people you want the best for. These are the cherished people in your life and connecting with them is healthier than any superfood out there because it’s not what we have or even what we do that make life extraordinary it is whom we get to share it with.
I believe sharing with others that you love and cherish and whom love and cherish you back is the pinnacle of life and cooking is an amazing way to share because it brings us together by uniting us under a common desire and reminding us what life is all about.
You are literally fuelling success with every mouthful when you eat in a loving environment and yes we are all busy but this is even more reason to cherish and make those meals we do get to spend with out loved ones all the more special.
Summary + Challenge
Creating a meal from fresh ingredients is an extraordinarily rewarding experience, one I believe we should all gift ourselves the opportunity to feel at least once in our lifetime.
If you’ve never cooked before, haven’t cooked in a long time or even if cooking is a daily task for you, I encourage you to follow these four steps to reinvent your kitchen mindset, ignite your passion and appreciation for cooking and transform your world of cooking. The health benefits of home cooked meals go far beyond the ingredients because good health and a successful life are created through more than what we eat.
Your challenge for this week is to choose a recipe and make time to share it with those you love, this can be one person, or it can be 15. Create a meal, present it beautifully and most of all have fun, allow yourself to feel satisfaction and pride as you look around at the smiling faces of those you cherish most because you made this incredible experience possible.
With my whole heart I hope you found this information useful and inspiring.
Please feel welcome to add any comments or questions below. I would love to hear your opinion on what you think about the little food industry conspiracy I threw in and I would love to hear your thoughts on the value of bringing cooking back and the value of sharing food as a tool for connecting and nurturing relationships.
Become Great. Live Great.
Bonnie
